Cooperation with Bosnia and Herzegovina in sectors of economy, energy and tourism is very important, said Vadym Chernish, the Minister if Temporarily Occupied Territories and Internally Displaced Persons of Ukraine, who has arrived for an official visit to Sarajevo.

“This visit is very important. I was encouraged by the government to strengthen these relations, we discussed many economic issues, we already agreed on a rough version of the arrangement of cooperation in tourism which might strengthen other sectors too,” the minister said in an interview for N1.

“It is very important that we support Bosnia and Herzegovina on its way to the World Trade Organisation (WTO). We finalised the preparations for future development in the energy sector, agriculture and so on,” he added.

The official was also asked to comment the statement by Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik, who was recently carried as saying for Russian daily newspaper Izvestia that he would propose recognition of Crimea as a part of Russia, once he takes office as the Serb member of Bosnia's tripartite Presidency.

“We are aware of the official stance of Bosnia and Herzegovina – the official stance of your country's entire system, and it says that Ukraine is a country that includes Crimea and eastern Ukraine – which means that Bosnia and Herzegovina officially supports our territorial integrity,” said Chernish, adding, “That means that these are various discussions among politicians as a part of internal politics, and not a matter of recognising or not recognising,”

“That's only a political discussion within the country but not a matter of foreign policy or the official stance of Bosnia and Herzegovina”, the minister said.